Thursday, May 21, 2015

(CNSNews.com) - Milwaukee County, Wis., Sheriff David Clarke on Tuesday addressed what he called a “myth” that police kill more black males than any other race in testimony at the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing titled, “Policing Strategies for the 21st Century.”

“It is a myth that police kill black males in greater numbers than anyone else,” Clarke said, citing statistics provided by the University of Toledo, which contrasts, what he called “the false narrative propagated by cop haters and the liberal mainstream media.”

Specifically, 61 percent or 915 of 1,491 people who died from police use of force were white males, while 32 percent or 481 were black males, Clarke noted.The same report cited FBI data showing that “of the 56,259 homicides from 2009 to 2012, 19,000 (33.8%) were killings of black males.” In comparison, “481 (2.5%) were the result of police use of force.”

“Private citizens killed a quarter more black males in justifiable homicides than did police use of force,” the report said.

“Black-on-black crime is the elephant in the room that few want to talk about. We can talk about police use of force but it doesn’t start with transforming the police profession,” said Clarke. “It starts by asking why we need so much assertive policing in the American ghetto.

“Are police officers perfect? Not by any stretch of the imagination. Are police agencies perfect? Not… even… close. But we are the best our communities have to offer,” he added.

Later in the hearing, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the percentage of whites who kill whites is 83 percent. “Now is white-on-white violence a problem in America that we should also have a robust discussion about?” Jeffries asked Clarke.

“Violence in America in general is problematic, but if you look at the rates, that’s where it starts coming a little more into balance in terms of the data I’ve seen, and I’ve looked at a lot of it. The white-on-white crime does happen – 80 percent figure you put out there – but when you look at the rates of it, these two are not even close,” Clarke said.Via: CNS NewsContinue Reading....